1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a computer-readable storage medium having stored therein a game program to be executed by a computer of a game apparatus, a game system, and a game display method. More particularly, the present invention relates to a computer-readable storage medium having stored therein a game program to be executed by a computer of a game apparatus which displays, on a display device, an image of an object within a virtual game space being seen from a viewpoint of a virtual camera, a game system, and a game display method.
2. Description of the Background Art
In a so-called shooting game or action game, a game apparatus performs a process of drawing an image of an object existing within a virtual game space being seen from a virtual camera also existing within the virtual game space (for example, see Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2000-107465). Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2000-107465 discloses a technique concerning a control of a viewpoint of a virtual camera, by which, when a game player operates a viewpoint change switch, an image showing that an aircraft operated by the player is flying, which is seen from a viewpoint (first-person viewpoint) of a cockpit of the aircraft, and an image showing that the aircraft is flying, which is seen from a behind viewpoint (third-person viewpoint) located behind the aircraft, are changed over from one to the other and displayed on a screen.
Here, in the conventional game disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2000-107465, when the virtual camera is controlled such that an object (the aircraft in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2000-107465) which is an observation target is constantly displayed at or near the center of the screen, another object located outside a field of view of the virtual camera, such as an object located behind the virtual camera, cannot be displayed even if the object is located near the observation target. This may cause a disadvantage for the player, in that, for example, a missile located near the aircraft is not displayed on the screen because the missile is outside the field of view of the virtual camera. To solve the problem, it is conceivable to make the viewpoint of the virtual camera further away from the observation target such that another object can be included in the field of view of the virtual camera. In this case, however, another problem arises that the observation target is displayed in a small size because the viewpoint of the virtual camera is made further away from the observation target.